Friday, December 10, 2010

Christmas Cookies

Although I usually love baking, when Christmas comes around, I'm usually a candy maker. I also do not prefer spice cookies, largely because they are often heavy on the ginger and molasses, ginger which I can take in small doses or in savory foods and molasses which I prefer to avoid. But Tuesday I decided to make cookies. I had some plans, all of which required getting extra ingredients, but it was 23 when I got up, so I decided to try to bake with what I had instead. Which, based on my spice cabinet, is spice cookies. My favorites were probably the tea cookies. I used Samurai Chai Mate from Teavana, though the recipe calls for Lady Grey, I decided to use what I had and I thought Chai sounded good and Christmasy. I could see Jasmine working in spring. The picture (which admittedly is a little fuzzy) is what I had left today, mostly the Chocolate Box cookies. All were pretty easy and I managed to bake all of them start to finish except for dipping all of the Chocolate Box cookies in less than 4 hours, plus a good deal of the cleanup.

Turn dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Cut the dough in half (I actually used fourths because I misread "lightly" as "well" and pushed the flour to the other side of my cutting board and therefore worked on a smaller surface) and roll each piece in the palms of your hands (misread that too) to form two logs 13 inches long.

Cut into 1/2 slices (this may even be too thick if you really want to make these look like chocolate box pieces, which is the goal). place slices on greased baking sheet. Chill for at least 30 minutes (oops, I missed this part completely).

Bake for 10 minutes until slightly risen. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Decorate by melting chocolate and dipping, drizzling and otherwise making pretty as you see fit. I really don't think you need instructions for this. Just make them pretty as you want them to look.

Spicy Pepper Cookies (makes about 48)

Quick note: These don't have raw eggs so I tasted the dough and was worried about the amount of pepper I added, but after baking, it became more subtle. Though I would recommend tasting the dough to make sure none of the flavors are too weak.

1 3/4 c flour

1/2 c cornstarch (oops, I missed this, but I'm sure it's for the texture and I liked the texture they ended up)

Cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and lemon zest.

Add the flour mixture, alternating with the cream (it's hard to alternate when there is only a 1/4 cup, but I added it in 2 additions), starting and ending with the flour mixture. FYI, I know this is terrible form, but to save myself an extra bowl, I measured the flour, added some at a time and 2-3 of the other ingredients at each addition. It worked fine, though not perfect. And I missed the cornstarch.

Stir in the ground almonds.

Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls (I assumed that was radius, based on the picture in the book, and with that assumption, I got 41, which is about right considering I forgot the cornstarch)

About Me

Being a grad student gives me some cooking challenges that aren't usually tackled by any sorts of culinary advice columns. I cook for one and have limited freezer space. I'm on a budget, but I don't want to eat like a college student (while I love pasta and eggs, I don't want to eat them for every meal). I like to get creative with what I cook, but often find myself sticking by old staples. I also work very hard to eat healthy, balanced meals, but this too can be hard with a crowded refrigerator.
On the other hand, I do other things. One important one is study. I've created a second blog for my own purposes of learning algebraic geometry and topology as well as the material that will be on my comprehensive exams. You probably don't want to read this one and I don't blame you.